Until Death
by Phantom SunsSong
Summary: They aren't just bits of data, or just sprites in a game. Pokemon are real, living creatures, and they're depending on me to keep them safe. To keep them alive. Maybe I don't deserve their trust. It's not just a game anymore. -Nuzlocke Fanfiction-
1. Prologue

A/N: Nuzlocke fic anyone? I heard about these online, and I wanted to do one for myself. Of course, the comic is half the fun, but since I can't draw, I decided to do a fanfiction instead. =3 I know I have other stuff I could be writing. Like Escape. But, well, I've hit a major writer's block with that (obviously), and I'm mostly writing this to get myself to write again. Just as a warning, I'm not taking this entirely seriously. Meaning, it's not the best quality writing. It's not terrible, but it's not great. And the plot is pretty much made up on the spot. So, yeah. Enjoy?

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I own Ryuki and her Pokemon.

**Until Death (a Nuzlocke Challenge fic)**

**Prologue**

I awoke with a start.

I'm still not entirely sure exactly what made me jolt awake. Maybe it was the feeling of impending doom closing in on my unsuspecting, sleeping mind. Regardless of how or why, I woke up.

It was pitch black.

Disoriented, I reached for my lamp, wondering what happened to wake me up in the middle of the night, but I didn't feel anything there. Nothing at all. That was... odd.

A bright light flashed before my eyes, and I blinked drearily. Suddenly, the whole world around me was white—no floor, no walls, no ceiling, just an endless void of white. Nothing there but me.

By that time, I was thoroughly confused. My first thought was that I was in some kind of weird dream, but when I went to pinch myself, I noticed something odd.

I was wearing gloves. Fingerless gloves, but gloves nonetheless. This was an odd occurrence, since I didn't usually wear gloves to bed. Weirder still, they were red, fingerless, and... what the heck was with this cuff thing? I reached up to scratch my head, only to find my hair was... fluffier? And I was wearing a headband. I took it off, curiously, and could only stare at it for a few moments. It was black, with a red, Pokeball-like mark on it. Wasn't that the headband that Brendan wore...?

"Yes, rather shocking, isn't it?" The sudden sound of another voice made me panic slightly, and I whirled around. Standing only a few feet away was a rather familiar face, an old man with graying hair, wearing a white doctor's coat and with a Pokeball in his hand.

"Pro-professor Oak?" I asked, more than a little incredulous. "What the heck is going on?" He just smirked at me.

"Don't act like you have no idea," he replied, rather more sarcastically than I would have expected from the esteemed Pokémon Professor. "You want to go on a journey with Pokémon, don't you?" I blinked.

"... What?" Professor Oak just shook his head.

"Poor rookie. I thought you would have figured it out by now." Then, he turned back to me, his face suddenly very serious again. "You're about to play a game. A very real game, unlike anything you've ever experienced before. However, there are some rules that you're going to have to play by in this game." I blinked, but I listened. I had gathered by this point that, some how, I was actually in one of my Pokémon games. Ruby, maybe? In any case, my only choice at the time was to go with the flow.

"Rules? Okay. What kind of rules?" I asked.

"Rule number one—" At this, Oak lifted the hand not holding a Pokeball and held up his index finger, I assumed for emphasis. "The only Pokémon you are allowed to catch is the very first one you see upon entering any route, cave, etc. The rest are all for grinding. If you don't catch it, too bad, your loss." I frowned a bit at that. This sounded kinda familiar. "And," he went on, holding up his middle finger as well, "rule number two—any Pokémon that faint, you are to consider dead. You take them out of your party and release them. Or, actually, in this case, since you are living the game, they will actually die." My jaw instantly dropped. Die? What the hell kinda messed up game was this?

"What if I don't wanna play?" I asked in return. "Do I just go back home or something?" I didn't find the sadistic grin on Oak's face very heartening.

"You thought you had a choice? Your only way back home is to win the game. Become the champion. That's all. If you fail—well. You'll find that out when it happens." That smile was starting to really creep me out.

"Right then. Okay." It looked like I didn't have much choice. I had no idea what I had done to get myself in this predicament, but the only way I could get out was to win the game. I had to train my Pokémon to the best of my ability and win. I'd always been a careful trainer anyway—surely it wouldn't be too hard, right? "Uh, one last question though. Why the heck am I dressed like Brendan?" Oak gave me a look that seemed to say that the answer was the most obvious one in the world.

"To set the mood. Of course." I frowned.

"But I'm a girl."

"Think of your alternative." I did think. And then I nodded.

"Okay, point taken."

"Alright," Oak went on. "Any more questions? No? Good. And your name is?" He paused, looking at me expectantly.

"Oh. Right. Ryuki." He raised one eyebrow.

"Really? You don't look Japanese." I glared at him. What right did he have to criticize me?

"It's a freaking game. I can call myself whatever I want, alright?" Oak just shrugged.

"Suit yourself." Before I even knew what was happening, a bright light was beginning to envelop me from below. I had another second to look at Oak, and he flashed me that odd, homicidal grin once more. "See you in the Hall of Fame. If you make it, that is."

I was enveloped by black once more.


	2. Chapter 1: The First Step

A/N: A couple things. One- I dislike May. I love Sapphire. So the "May" in this story will have a personality more along the lines of Sapphire. Two- I have absolutely nothing against Torchic. I just like Mudkip better. However, I wanted to start with a Pokemon that dragged me out of my comfort zone. Hence Torchic. Three- Mild cursing. It happens.

That's all now. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I own Ryuki and her Pokemon.

**Until Death (a Nuzlocke Challenge fic)**

**Chapter One: The First Step is a Hard One to Take**

I was jolted awake out of a dead sleep for the second time in what felt like just a few minutes. I blinked groggily, trying to make sense of my new, dim surroundings, when the "room" that I was in suddenly bucked underneath me. I was knocked several inches into the air, only to come back down on the metal floor with a _whumpf_, feeling suddenly very awake. I then just barely dodged a cardboard box, full of what I assumed was glass, if the shattering sound it made when it hit the floor of the truck was anything to go by.

That's right. Moving truck. I was Brendan now. All that, plus the lack of a green book bag, meant that I must have been in Ruby. I pouted a bit to myself, wondering why I couldn't even have been in my Emerald game, which would have made things more interesting.

Or maybe not. It occurred to me that this new, sadistic Oak might have decided that the game wouldn't "end" until I had defeated the leaders of all the various battle arenas. I didn't recall beating any of them yet, let alone all of them, so this seemed a lot easier.

Ruby it was, then.

After a few minutes of wondering when the van was going to try and stop and what the heck would possess any good parent to tell their kid to ride in the moving van, it came to a grinding halt. As soon as the doors were opened and the movers began releasing their Pokémon, I jumped out as quickly as I could. The sooner I got this thing started, the sooner I could get home.

"Ryuki!" I was attacked from behind, arms wrapping around my chest and enveloping me in a bear hug. For a moment, I couldn't breathe, and then the terror ended. I turned around, a little hesitant, though I knew who it was. My "Mom".

"Sweetie, sorry you had to ride in the moving van, but it was more fun anyway, wasn't it?" She all but beamed at me, looking almost as though she wished that she could have ridden in the thing. Yeah, right.

"Uh, sure, it's fine," I replied, deciding to be nice, and then she grabbed my hand, dragging me inside the house.

The movers and their Pokémon were already inside, setting up the various parts of the house. In the few moments that I had been caught up with Mom, they had apparently gotten a lot done.

"Ryuki," I heard my mom say. I turned to her again. "Why don't you go ahead and go meet our neighbors? I hear the Birches are a very nice family, and they have a daughter your age!"

"Oh, uh, yeah." My answer seemed to pale in comparison to my mom's over enthusiasm. "Right. I'll, uh... go do that." And with that, I left the house that I knew I would be leaving again soon. For good.

It wasn't hard to figure out which house was the Birches'. There were only two other buildings in town, one of those being the lab. I chose the one that wasn't.

I knocked on the door, not quite ready to just barge in as one does in the video games. I heard a muffled shout of "Come in!" from inside, so I did just that. A woman that I assumed to be Mrs. Birch was sitting at the kitchen table, putting together a puzzle. Of Professor Oak's face. That wasn't creepy at all.

"Er, hello?" I said, a little hesitantly. She looked up at me, a little surprised, and then smiled.

"Oh, you must be Norman's son, right? Who just moved in next door?" I hesitated, then nodded. Being called a boy was going to take some getting used to, that was for sure... "Why don't you go meet May?" She continued. "She's upstairs, in her room." I nodded and did as she bid. I was ready to get this stupid little beginning plotline finished.

There were two rooms at the top of the stairs, but I didn't have to do much guessing, considering one of the doors had a sign taped to it that said "May's Room" surrounded by flowers and cute Pokémon stickers. I sighed and opened the door.

"Hey, I'm—" I began as I stuck my head past the door, but then immediately paused. May was in the room, sure enough, though she was apparently changing clothes. Her shirt was only half on, and not covering her chest at all. I blinked. She had a bra on, at least.

"Oh, sorry," I said quickly. "I'll wait out here." I closed the door, in a bit of a shock.

Well. THAT didn't happen in the game. It wasn't as if it was something altogether embarrassing to me—I was a girl, after all—but I couldn't help feeling bad for May. She probably assumed I was a boy, and that she had been walked in on. And that I was a pervert. I sighed to myself. And what the heck? Wasn't she a bit over-developed for a girl that was supposed to be ten?

I was jolted out of my thoughts by the door creaking open. I turned to see just May's eye, peering through the door.

"Who the heck are you?" She hissed angrily. "And why didn't you at least _knock_ before entering a girl's room?" That was a good question, actually.

"Er, I'm your new next door neighbor, and because I'm an idiot guy?" That seemed a safe enough statement. Her eye narrowed, glaring at me for an extra moment, but she finally opened the door and let me in. I plastered a smile on my face. Something told me this conversation wasn't going to be fun.

May had stepped into the middle of the room, her arms crossed over her chest almost protectively.

"I guess I have to be nice to you," she ground out, "since Dad said so. You're Norman's kid or something, right? Ryuki?" I nodded. She seemed really uncomfortable around me, not surprisingly. Especially after what had just happened.

"Seriously, I'm sorry about that," I told her, "but you don't have to be embarrassed. It's nothing I haven't seen befo—" And then I realized exactly how that sounded. Her eyes had widened in shock, and her mouth was a black O. I wracked my brain, trying to come up with some kind of response that could save me, and failed. Utterly.

"Er, um, I mean... I'm gay?" I mentally slapped myself. Gay? Really? That was the best I could come up with? Though, in a way, it was kinda true. I liked guys, after all... and I looked like a guy...

May just blinked in response.

"I... you... what?"

"I uh, y'know, like guys. I don't think of girls that way. So don't worry about it." I decided to just go with it. If it actually worked, well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad being considered a gay guy. At least I wouldn't have to try and pretend that I liked girls.

"Oh." May still looked a little shocked and disoriented. "Well. That's nice. Anyway..." She slowly began to sidestep towards the door. "I gotta go do stuff for my dad. Y'know, catch Pokémon and... stuff. Later." She all but ran out the door. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair in irritation. I'd already screwed things up, and I didn't even have my first Pokémon yet. This didn't bode well for the rest of the game.

I left the house without talking to May's mom again. It would just be too awkward. Instead, and I went outside and considered my options.

I thought about going to the lab first, but I decided to skip it. I already knew that Birch wasn't there. He was out in the field, getting attacked by a Poochyena. I might as well skip straight to the interesting part. I jogged to the edge of town, where the open grass ended and the trees began. I saw a kid standing near one, looking quite frightened, but I ignored him and plowed into the woods. It wasn't hard to find Birch. All I had to do was follow the sounds of a grown man screaming like a pansy.

When I arrived, the Poochyena had backed him into a corner, growling menacingly. Birch was still yelling for help when he saw me.

"Oh, kid, please, help me out here! In my bag, over there," he pointed to where a bag lay discarded on the ground, "there's a Pokeball inside! Get it, please!" Wondering why in the heck he dropped his bag in the first place, I ran to it and rummaged around inside. Rather than the three Pokeballs I was expecting, however, there was only one.

"What the... I thought there were supposed to be three in here!" I hadn't realized I'd said it out loud until Birch responded.

"Yes, well—ow, bad doggy!—I've, y'know, been attacked a couple times today, and several people have—no, no, not the coat!—helped me out!" I rolled my eyes. Birch was lame, though I'd take him over creepy Oak any day. I picked up the ball, hoping against all hope that a Mudkip, my favorite Hoenn starter, would be inside, and tossed it.

In a flash of red light, an orange, chick-like Pokémon appeared. "Torchic!" It said cutely.

Damn.

The flash of red light seemed to catch the Poochyena's attention. It turned to look at the Torchic, bearing its fangs as it growled. Torchic quivered for a moment, obviously unsure of what to do.

"Torchic! Use Scratch!" I commanded. Man, I hate the dumb moves starters begin with.

"Tor!" The little creature said in response, rallying its own strength. To the Poochyena's obvious surprise, it leaped into the air and slashed at the black dog with its talons, catching it right across the nose.

The Pokémon yipped in surprise and was knocked back on its bum. Torchic landed on the ground, while the Poochyena looked back and forth between Torchic and me, apparently weighing its options. It decided pretty quickly. With another high-pitched yipe, it turned and fled.

"Thank you, my boy, thank you so much!" I looked up to see Birch approaching me, his coat ripped and with a few scratches on his arms and legs, but not much the worse for wear. "A wonderful job! You commanded that Pokémon superbly!"

"Uh, yeah," I replied, recalling that all I had really done was call out an attack. Torchic did the rest.

"You must be Ryuki, Norman's son, correct?" Birch asked. "I'm Professor Birch."

"Nice to meet you, sir," I replied politely, in spite of the fact that I already knew who he was. Birch just beamed.

"Why don't you come back to my lab with me? I can properly repay you there." He picked up his bag and strode off back towards town, leaving me behind with a sweat drop forming on my forehead. Repay me. Right. Sighing, I picked up my new Torchic. He seemed to enjoy sitting in my arms, which made me smile. He really was kinda cute, I suppose. For a chicken, anyway. I strode off after Birch, thinking that this whole "game" thing might not be too bad after all.


	3. Chapter 2: Rival Battles are Never Easy

A/N: I like battles. =3 So yeah. Also. You need not have an understanding of Soul Eater to read this story. Just know that all the weird names are purposely weird.

That's all now. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I own Ryuki and her Pokemon.

**Until Death (a Nuzlocke Challenge fic)**

**Chapter Two: Rival Battles are Never Easy**

"Why don't you give your Torchic a name?" Birch suggested. We were in his lab now, and he had already told me that he wanted to give me Torchic to repay my helping him in his "hour of need". I, of course, graciously accepted, being the polite young lady—er, man—that I am. Now that we were on the subject of nicknames, I gave it serious thought. What should I name him? With a smile, I came up with an idea.

"I'll name him Soul," I said aloud. It's always nice to have a theme when you are naming your Pokémon. I decided that mine would be Soul Eater, starting with Soul Eater Evans himself. Birch gave me a slightly confused look, but he shrugged it off. Naturally, he didn't understand the significance of the name, but it wasn't his Pokémon.

"Anyway," he went on, "have you met my daughter?" He didn't pause to hear my answer, which was just was well. I didn't particularly want to dwell upon that meeting. "She's doing some field work for me on Route 101, north of Oldale Town. Why don't you go talk to her? She'll help you better understand what it means to be a trainer." I nodded, though I internally raised an eyebrow skeptically. It sounded more like it was just an excuse to get us to battle. Which it was, in the end, but still.

I left the lab and soon found myself on Route 100. Of course, I couldn't catch any Pokémon yet. I lacked the proper equipment, and I still had my first rival battle ahead of me. It wouldn't be exactly fair if I had a team full of Zigzagoon to face her with, would it? I decided to leave Soul out of his Pokeball, and he most often either tottered along behind me, or, when we were faced with a battle with a Pokémon, I scooped him up and ran. I didn't want to battle yet, not until I was close enough to Oldale that I could heal easily. I still hadn't forgotten that second rule that Oak had told me—a Pokémon that faints is a Pokémon that dies. I didn't want to lose my starter with no more Pokémon to replace him. Heck, I didn't want to lose my starter at all.

Once we got to Oldale, I decided to do a bit of shopping. I went by the Mart and bought a few Potions and Antidotes with the money I found conveniently in my pocket. As I was walking out, however, I noticed an odd man crouching by the entrance to Route 102. I knew who he was—the Pokémon enthusiast who excitedly sketched footprints of what he thought was a rare Pokémon, until he realized that they were his own. Grinning to myself, I walked over to him with Soul at my side.

"Yo dude. Whatcha doin'?" I decided to try some "guy lingo" while I was at it. The more I sounded like a boy, the better. It was too awkward to try and explain to people why I was a girl that looked and dressed like a boy, when both my parents called me their son.

"Sketching," the boy said excitedly. I rolled my eyes. That much was obvious.

"Okay, but _what_?"

"Pokémon footprints!" He sounded quite excited. Then, as if something occurred to him, he turned to me and glared. "Don't even _think_ about walking this way, got it? Not until I finish my sketch!" He went back to it feverishly. I just shrugged.

"Whatever, but they look like your own footprints to me." He turned to say something in response, but I was already walking away.

Soul and I trained for a while, though smashing Wurmples only holds its charm for so long. Finally, once we were defeating them in one hit, I decided that it was a good time to go find May and get this battle over with. The sooner we did that, the sooner I could start catching Pokémon and get on with the rest of my adventure.

I traveled to the end of route with no mishaps, where I found May digging through some grass. I casually walked up behind her and said, "Hey, May, I—" only to be cut off by her scream. She whirled, looking wild-eyed, until she saw it was just me and her look turned into a glare. I could only stand silently with my mouth still hanging open.

"What the heck, Ryuki!" She growled angrily. "You scared the heck out of me!"

"That was no reason to scream like a banshee," I retorted once I had regained use of my voice again. "_That_ scared _me_." She just pouted.

"Whatever. What do you want, anyway? I'm kinda busy."

"Yeah, I can tell," I said sarcastically. "Your dad wanted you to show me the ropes of being a trainer, but if you don't want to, I don't particularly care either way."

"No, no, I'd better," she said with a sigh, standing up and dusting off her knees. "And by 'showing you the ropes', Dad of course means battling me. Though I can't fathom why he'd want us to. If you're a new trainer, you won't have a chance against someone like me, who actually has some battling experience." My heart fell a bit at that. Of course, I had assumed that this battle would be just as easy as it was in the game, but was that really going to be the case? And if it was, what would happen when her Mudkip beat Soul? Would he really die? I didn't like the sound of that. I'd already grown attached to the little guy. I didn't want to see anything happen to him so soon.

While I was thinking over what I'd gotten myself into, May took a Pokeball out of her pocket. Soul was still out of his Pokeball, so he simply stood in front of me, ready for a fight. May released her Pokémon in a flash of white light, revealing... a Mudkip.

That burnt me up inside. Why the heck did she get a Mudkip, but I couldn't have one? Angrily, I yelled, "Soul, use Scratch!"

"Mudkip, Tackle!" Both of the Pokémon leaped at one another, obviously aiming to do damage. Soul, it seemed, was the quicker of the two. He managed to slash his talons across the Mudkip's side before its tackle could harm him. His momentum sent him flying over the water type, causing its attack to miss completely. It looked like he'd done some damage, too. Mudkip certainly looked hurt.

I glanced up at May, who was looking less sure of herself.

"You positive I have no chance?" I asked her. She just scowled at me and gave her Pokémon its next command.

"Don't let them make a fool out of you, Mudkip! Mud Slap!" I froze. Her Mudkip wasn't supposed to know that move yet! The Mudkip just grinned as Soul, having never heard of the attack before, looked confused.

"Soul, dodge!" I yelled, but it was too late. The Mudkip had dug up a nice wad of mud with its tail and sent it flying at Soul, hitting him right in the face. He flailed his tiny wings as he fell to the ground.

"Dammit!" I cursed. "Soul, are you okay?" Soul managed to turn over, and most of the mud fell off in the process. Some of it, it seemed, was in his eyes, though. I gritted my teeth. Accuracy reduction.

Just as he had managed to get back to his feet, the Mudkip was Tackling him again, right in the chest.

"Quick, Soul, use Ember in its face!" I called. He opened his little beak, releasing flames right into the blue Pokémon. Though it was resistant to the attack, getting flames in your eyes still wasn't a good idea. Mudkip backed off, shaking his head. Meanwhile, Soul was blinking his eyes, regaining his vision.

The Mudkip was getting weak, but so was Soul. The last attack would decide the fight.

"Soul! Scratch!" I yelled.

"Don't let it get near you, Mudkip!" May called. "Use Water Gun!" Mudkip blinked, finding Soul on the ground, and shot a steady stream of water at him. Once again, however, the Torchic was faster. Soul leaped into the air just in time to miss the attack, and came down on Mudkip with another vicious Scratch. The Mudkip collapsed, having obviously had enough. May scowled and withdrew her Pokémon.

"... Fine," she admitted finally. "You win." She certainly didn't look happy about it. "Anyway, I'm done here for the day. It's getting late. We had better go back to the lab." I nodded, and when she walked away, I followed at a respectable distance. I didn't particularly want to talk to her. However, I picked up Soul and carried him, rather than letting him walk after that battle. He'd done an excellent job and deserved a rest.

By the time we reached Little Root again, it was getting dark. We both went back to the lab regardless, where we found a jovial Birch. When he was told of my victory, he laughed loudly and commented on how much Soul already seemed to like me. Then, he looked at May, almost expectantly. She stared back, not comprehending, until it looked as though she finally remembered what she was supposed to do.

"Oh, right!" She dug in her pocket, pulling out a handful of empty Pokeballs. She held them out to me.

"Just to get you started," she said. "Use them wisely. Now, if you don't mind, I'm heading on home." With that, she left, and I was about to follow, until I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I saw that it was the Professor.

"Hold on, Ryuki, I wanna talk to you." I paused, watching him carefully. He wasn't creepy like Oak had been, but the more I was around him, the more Birch put me on edge. I just wanted to see what it was he wanted and get out of there.

"Yeah?" I replied. "What is it?" He pulled a red device out of his pocket, one I immediately recognized as a Pokedex.

"Here, take this," he said. "I'm sure you can handle it. Be sure to catch lots of Pokémon, alright?" Then he smirked, as though laughing inwardly at some kind of private joke. I frowned slightly, but I didn't say anything. There was definitely something strange about this guy.

"Anyway, you should be going home," he continued, swiftly turning me around and pushing me towards the door. "Go on, Brendan! You shouldn't make your mother worry!"

"Yeah, I—" I began as he all but pushed me out the door, but I stopped cold, realizing what he had called me. I turned around. "Wait, what did you just—"

I was cut off by the door closing in my face. My frowned deepened. I could have sworn he had just called me Brendan. And, if that was the case, what else did he know about this whole "game"? I had to find out. I tried the door, only to discover it was locked. I even knocked loudly and yelled Birch's name, but there was no answer. Obviously, I wouldn't be finding anything out that night. Scowling, I went back home. At least I could get some decent sleep. Or try, anyway.


	4. Chapter 3: Two Wurmples are Better

A/N: All I've got to say is that I read the Pokemon Special manga before writing this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I own Ryuki and her Pokemon.

**Until Death (a Nuzlocke Challenge fic)**

**Chapter Three: Two Wurmples are Better Than One**

The next morning, I gathered everything I thought I might need on my long journey. Once I was sure I was ready, I went downstairs. I had a tearful good bye with my mother (at least, tearful on her part), and I was finally ready to leave. I released Soul from his Pokeball once we were outside, and he loyally followed me. There was one last thing I needed to do before I could leave Little Root for good.

I stopped in front of the lab.

I still hadn't forgotten last night, when Birch had called me Brendan. I had thought he was little more than a ditzy, unorganized professor, but now, I wasn't so sure. My gut told me he was in cahoots with Oak, and that he knew what was really going on here. If he did, I had to find out. I reached out and opened the door.

Or tried, anyway. Just like the night before, it was locked. I scowled. Still locked? It was almost like he was avoiding me. And, all things considered, that was probably the truth. I didn't bother knocking this time. I knew there wouldn't be an answer. Instead, I tried another building. The Birch Residence.

Here, at least, the door was unlocked. I peeked in to find Mrs. Birch still sitting at the kitchen table, and still putting together a puzzle. This one, however, was a picture of Professor Elm's face. Slightly less creepy, anyway. She looked up when she heard me enter.

"Oh, hello Ryuki," she said pleasantly. Was it just me, or was she a bit colder than she had been the day before? "What brings you here?"

"I was looking for Professor Birch, actually," I said truthfully. "The lab appears to be locked, and I was just wondering if he'd be here." My heart sank when she shook her head.

"No, I'm afraid not. He left early this morning on a field exploration, and when he goes on those, he's usually gone for several days."

"Oh," I said, crestfallen. "Well, alright then. Thanks for the info." I walked back outside, feeling dejected and frustrated. Just like that, the answer to why I was here had slipped through my fingers. I sighed, considering my options for a moment. What it all came down to was that I couldn't wait to start my journey. This reconnaissance mission wasn't as important as actually building a team, getting badges, and facing the Elite Four. I would just have to come back and question Birch then. Someday.

So, I plastered on a smile and turned to Soul.

"Alright, buddy, ready to go?" I asked him as I began to walk towards Route 100, though I wasn't really expecting much of a response.

"Might as well. We won't get anything else done here." The voice sounded young, but still fairly deep. I stopped mid step and turned, slowly. Soul was looking up innocently at me with those beady little eyes.

"D-did you...?" I managed to stutter before trailing off.

"Of course." Soul's beak open and closed in time with the words. "What, you thought I'd be silent this whole time?" I couldn't do anything more than blink in surprise.

"Well, no," I admitted, "but I thought you'd be making, well, Pokémon noises. Not actually speaking in English." Soul grinned, which was a little disconcerting. I wasn't aware that Torchic had teeth, let alone triangular, pointy ones. It seemed to go against the whole beak thing.

"For most trainers, yeah, that's all you can really expect," he replied, "but you're taking the _Nuzlocke Challenge_. Once you have caught a Pokémon in a Pokeball, or have taken possession of their Pokeball, like in my case, they can talk. But only you can understand them." I sighed.

"Well, that makes about as much sense as everything else, doesn't it?" In the situation I was in, I couldn't do much else besides shrug it off. It would make things a whole lot easier, anyway. Then, something occurred to me. "If I can understand whatever you say, why couldn't I understand you before now?"

"I didn't want to startle you and make you freak out in the middle of a battle or something," Soul replied. "So, I just decided to wait until we started getting going on our journey. Up until now, all I've really been doing is saying my species name." I couldn't help but laugh about that.

"Yeah, okay, I see what you mean. I probably would have freaked out, too, and everyone would think that I'm nuts." I had to admit, my partner was pretty smart. We were going to make a good team. If only I could capture more Pokémon that were as good as he was.

All while we had been talking, we were making our way towards Route 100. Finally, we had reached it. It was time to catch some more Pokémon.

"I'd like a Poochyena," I told Soul, "but I don't have high hopes for that. With my luck, it'll probably be a Zigzagoon or a Wurmple that we see first." Soul nodded, accepting the fact that my luck was horrible. Which it was, obviously—I was in this whole mess in the first place, after all. We kept our eyes peeled for any bit s of moving grass, half-hidden tails, or anything else that might signify there were Pokémon about, but we didn't see any for some time. It was like they'd all hidden somewhere, or maybe from something.

We found our first Pokémon as we passed under a tree.

Something dropped from above, landing squarely on my back and head. I bit my lip, stifling a scream, and reached back behind me. I felt something squishy under my fingers. I tried to pull it off, but to no avail. Somehow, it was sticking to me. I gritted my teeth.

"Soul! Try to dislodge it with Scratch!" I yelled to him. I saw him nod before he leaped into the air, lashing out with his sharp talons. I felt him hit the thing on my back, and it squealed in pain, almost directly in my ear. For a moment, I thought that that wasn't going to be enough to get it off, but then it just peeled away, falling to the ground behind me. I turned to look, and saw a Wurmple.

Its eyes were out of focus, signaling that Soul had done enough damage to temporarily daze it. I wasn't surprised, judging by the gashes on its side. Still, for it to withstand Soul's attack, after he'd been training by learning to defeat Wurmples in one hit, it must have pretty good defense. I took one of the Pokeballs that May had given me out of my pocket and tossed it gently, watching while the Wurmple was sucked inside. It fell to the ground, shook twice, and fell still. The creature was caught.

"Awesome," I said. "First Pokémon captured." I turned to Soul. "Good job, by the way. Your aim was perfect." Soul grinned again.

"Of course. It's not like we didn't practice that move a bunch yesterday. And, by the way, your hat's falling off." I blinked and immediately reached my hand to my head. My hat? Was I even wearing a hat? As soon as I touched what I had thought was my "hair", the whole thing, hair and headband alike, came off. I looked at it for a few moments before feeling the top of my head with my other hand.

Apparently, my natural brown hair was still there. It hadn't even been cut—it had been put up in a ponytail and then shoved in under the hat. Regardless, it certainly made it look as though this fuzzy hat was my real hair. Still, something didn't seem right about all this.

"You know, I could have sworn this was just a headband," I told Soul. "In fact, I'm almost positive I took off just the headband when this whole thing started." The Torchic shrugged his little shoulders.

"It's probably a loophole of some kind," he replied. "The author probably found out that it was actually a hat not long after writing and posting the prologue of the story, and she decided to just change it to reflect that here." I gave him a confused look.

"What the heck are you talking about?" He just grinned again.

"Shouldn't we be taking that Wurmple to the Pokémon Center in Oldale?" His words brought me back to our original objective.

"Oh. Right." I decided to leave the odd occurrence as it was and put the hat back on my head, tucking my ponytail in up underneath it. At least I could look like Brendan without having to constantly worry about dying my hair. "Okay, let's go."

As it turned out, we weren't far from Oldale Town. We had gotten farther along Route 100 than I thought. It didn't take long to get the Wurmple and Soul healed up, and then it was time to get to know my new Pokémon. We sat down at an empty table in the Pokémon Center, and I released the Wurmple in a flash of light.

A quick look at my Pokedex told me the Wurmple was a male. He stared at me for a long moment, seeming to assess my worth. Finally, he spoke.

"I suppose you'll do." His voice was a lot higher than Soul's but that was to be expected. "You'll never measure up to me, but you'll be an okay trainer."

"Oh really?" I replied, smirking a little. He reminded me of a certain character. And with that, I knew exactly what to call him. "I think you're just conceited enough to be called BlackStar."

"Conceited?" My newly-named Wurmple replied. "Of course not! I just know my own strength. But the name will do." With that settled, we continued on our journey.

We passed through Oldale Town just long enough to heal before pressing on to Route 101. Unfortunately, the Zigzagoon I saw there took one look at Soul and I and turned tail. We tried to follow it, but to no avail—it knew the forest, and we, naturally, did not. Finally giving up, we went back to Oldale one last time before we moved on to Petalburg City. As I was about to pass into Route 102, however, I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. When I turned around, I recognized the man behind him as the one who had been sketching his own footprints, and he didn't look all too happy.

"You, kid," he growled. "How did you know? How did you know they were my footprints?" I stared at him blankly for a moment, unsure of what to say at first. Then, with a laugh, I gave him my answer.

"It was pretty obvious," I said. "I mean, it looked like a shoe print, not a Pokémon print." The Pokemaniac continued to stare at me for several long moments, and then released me. He didn't say anything else. He just turned and walked away. I watched him for a few moments, then exchanged a puzzled look with Soul. He merely shrugged, and the two of us continued on our way down the route.

We didn't see the grin on the man's face once he'd turned around. Or the phone he took out once we had turned our backs.

I had had some high hopes for this next route. Although I knew it was unlikely, I had the dream in my head that I would find a Ralts, and thus have a strong Psychic type throughout the rest of my journey. Sure, they were difficult to train up, but they were more than worth it in the end. However, Lady Luck was not smiling upon me that day. Instead, she "gifted" me with another Wurmple.

I'd had the forethought this time to fight it using BlackStar, who I had trained up a bit since I had caught him. He still remained a Wurmple, but he was able to easily subdue this second one without killing it or letting it escape. A well-aimed Pokeball sealed the deal. Bending down on one knee, I released it in a flash of light. It looked a bit scraped up, but otherwise seemed in fairly good health. It glanced back at BlackStar, who had a haughty expression on his face, and then to me.

"So I have been captured?" The voice seemed to suggest it was a young male. I nodded in response to his question.

"Yup," I said. "Welcome to the team. Not that there's much of one to look at yet." I grinned at him. The new Wurmple gave me a determined look.

"You will not regret catching me, I promise!" He lifted his body up on his hind legs and grabbed my hand in two of his sticky limbs. "I will become the strongest Wurmple I can!" I smiled, but I heard BlackStar scoff.

"You'll still be second to me," he said haughtily. "Only one Wurmple can shine on this team." The new Wurmple turned to glare at him.

"Alright, guys, calm down," I told them both. "You'll both be assets. And as for you..." I thought for a moment, and finally came up with a good name. "Ox. I'll call you Ox." With that, I stood and returned both of them to their Pokeballs. I backtracked to Oldale to heal them, though I didn't particularly notice when the Pokemaniac that had approached me before was gone. I was too preoccupied with all the training ahead.

I now had two Wurmple, in addition to Soul. It wasn't the best team, but it was all I had to work with. I hoped that they would take different evolution paths, but there was no real telling. I didn't want to have to choose between which to use...

After a fair bit of training, I was glad to see that my fears were unfounded. BlackStar evolved into Cascoon, while Ox became a Silcoon. Both still seemed to view each other as rivals, so it was a good thing that they both evolved around the same time. Finally, the second evolution occurred. I had both Beautifly and Dustox at my disposal.

Time to head on to Petalburg City.


	5. Chapter 4: NPCs are Always Lucky

A/N: Last prewritten chapter. I'll update again as quickly as I can. Which isn't very quickly. So, patience please. Not much else to say here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but I own Ryuki and her Pokemon.

**Until Death (a Nuzlocke Challenge fic)**

**Chapter Four: NPCs are Always Lucky**

Petalburg City really is a beautiful place. All the clear water, and the air is pretty fresh, too. Free of all the smog back home, anyway. The people were all surprisingly friendly. Maybe a little too friendly. One guy took it upon himself to make sure that I knew about the gym in town, and wouldn't let me head out to Route 103 until I took a look. Annoying, but it was necessary to further the plot, I suppose.

When I opened the door, no one was there. Frowning to myself, I closed it behind me and continued to look around. With the wooden floor and walls, not to mention the sign in Japanese on the wall, I got the distinct feeling of a dojo. This definitely seemed like a place where people worked and sweated for power and the distinction of being called "strong". Regardless, no Dad.

"Ryuki." The voice made me jump. It was deep and booming, in spite of the fact that it wasn't actually _loud_. I whirled around, and there, standing near the wall, just out of my eyesight when I had walked in, was Norman. The man who was supposed to be my father.

He gave me an almost cold look, one that sent chills shooting down my spine. What was that for? Wasn't he proud of me that I was beginning my own Pokémon journey? He took several long, deliberate steps towards me and looked down upon me, almost as if sizing me up. Sizing up his own son?

"Your mother called and told me that you were beginning your own journey with Pokémon," he said finally. Suddenly unable to talk in his presence, I could only nod. His gray eyes seemed to bore into me all the more. "I shouldn't have to remind you, then, what I expect of you." I gulped and nodded. He moved to the center of the floor, and watched me.

"Pokémon are not toys," he said. "They are living creatures, with thoughts and feelings. They want to, yearn to, become stronger. They can only achieve this with your help. Remember this son: you are aiding them, not the other way around. The minute they think you can no long supply what they are looking for, they have every right to leave you." I could only nod again. Where had this come from? Norman nodded back. "Good. You understand. That being said, they can become your friends, but remember that all Pokémon want to grow strong." At that moment, the door behind me opened. I couldn't help but look backwards. Walking into the gym was a pale, fair-haired, frail-looking boy. To be completely honest, I would have bet that a strong wind would have knocked him over. Purplish gray bags had formed under his eyes, and he looked like he hadn't slept well in some time.

"Ah, Wally," I heard Norman say. "I've been expecting you." My "father" walked past me to meet the young boy, who only nodded meekly. I followed behind him, curious. So this was Wally? He looked even worst than I would have expected. Could just having a Pokémon really help something like this?

"By the way, Wally, this is my son, Ryuki." I started a bit when I heard my name. I looked up to find Wally's green eyes on me, and I smiled a little nervously.

"Hi," I said. He smiled back, at least, then turned to Norman.

"As I explained to you," he said, rather quietly, "I wanted to try to catch a Pokémon. Before I have to move to Verdanturf Town." My father nodded.

"Yes, I recall that conversation," he said. "I have decided to have my son take you. He will lend you a Pokémon that you can use to capture one of your own. And, here, take this." He took an empty Pokeball out of his pocket and handed it to Wally. The boy took it carefully in his hands, as if it was liable to break. "Catch it with this." Wally nodded. I glanced at Norman out of the corner of my eye. He seemed a little less... uptight with Wally. Why had he seemed so strict with me? Was it because I was his son? Or because Wally was sickly? I shook my head slightly. It didn't particularly matter which. It was time to go help Wally. I turned back to him and smiled again.

"C'mon, let's go. I'll help you." I reached out for his hand, and he gave it, a little hesitantly. We left the gym, and I heard Norman call out his good luck to us before we left.

I led him through town, back the way I had come and onto Route 102. As we were approaching the end of town, I began explaining what he had to do.

"Once you see a Pokémon, you just call out an attack for yours, and they'll fight. Once the other Pokémon is weak enough, you can throw the ball and catch it." At that point, we had reached the nearest patch of grass. I turned back to him. "Any questions?"

"Just one," Wally said. "Why are you hiding it?" I stared at him, not understanding what he meant.

"Hiding? Hiding what?"

"Your gender, I mean. You're a girl, aren't you?" That made me start.

"Wh-what? What are you talking about? Of course I'm not a g—" He cut me off with a weak smile.

"You don't have to lie. I can tell. The way you hold yourself, your voice, and your hand especially." He reached forward, grabbing my hand and holding it up. "Even though you're a Pokémon trainer, it's clean and soft. And when you grabbed my hand, it was carefully, as though you were afraid of hurting me. None of the boys I've ever met cared that much." He released my hand, and I took it back possessively. How perceptive was this boy, to discover the truth from just that?

"Anyway," he went on, "I guess it's really none of my business. Let's just do what we came here to do." I nodded woodenly and handed him Ox's Pokeball to use. I decided to just not say anything, and go through the rest of the outing as planned.

I didn't really think that Wally would find a Ralts, like he did in the game. I mean, Ralts must be super rare. I didn't even see one while I was training. But, lo and behold, as we were looking through the grass, he yelled (as much as he could yell) for me when he found a green head with red horns sticking out of the grass.

For a long moment, I wanted to scream in frustration, but it quickly passed.

Wally was able to use Ox effectively with only a little direction from me. Once he had weakened the Ralts, he threw the Pokeball and caught it with ease. If only it was that easy for everyone. For some reason, I was getting the distinct impression that Wally, this little sickly kid, really had the makings to be a great trainer. Not that I knew much on the subject myself, but, well, just call in a hunch.

Once he had the Pokeball in hand, he gave me back Ox with a smile.

"Thank you very much, Ryuki," he said as he bowed lowly. "Now I will have a friend in a new town. And I'm sorry if I brought up a sore subject." I couldn't help but smile at how truly apologetic he sounded.

"No, no, it's nothing. It's kind of a complicated matter. I just... wouldn't bring it up with anyone, okay?" He nodded.

"I will take the secret to my grave," he said. The way he said it, however, gave me the impression that he didn't think it would be a very long time. For the first time, I really felt sad for the boy. Maybe he wasn't really that lucky. Maybe the Ralts had sensed these negative emotions in hopes that it could help heal them. I hoped it would be successful.

"Thank you," I said in response. "And good luck in Verdanturf." He nodded, and then left to go back to Petalburg. I watched him for a long moment with a sigh. It seemed to me that he had a rough road ahead of him, maybe as rough as the one ahead of me. I hoped he could find the strength inside himself to make it through. I really did.

"Anyway!" I said, to myself more than anyone else. It was time to continue on. I wanted to catch another Pokémon by nightfall, and that time was swiftly approaching. I jogged back into town, healed my Pokémon at the Center, and finally arrived in Route 103.

I had high hopes for this route. It was teeming with Poochyena, Wingull, Taillow, and Marill, and any of those would make a great addition to my team. Even a Zigzagoon was not unwelcome—its Pick Up ability could be quite useful in finding some good items. I just had to find one of them. It took me several minutes of searching, but I finally found my first Pokémon for the route.

A red and tan head with yellow spines poked out of the grass, staring at me with its beady little bug eyes. After just witnessing Wally catch a Ralts, of all things, the appearance of this totally _useless_ Pokémon made me want to rip out my hair. I ignored it completely, deciding then and there that I would go straight on to Petalburg Woods and try my luck there. The sun was beginning to go down, but I was bound and determined to catch something that night. I fought a trainer along the way and finally found myself in the woods.

It was even darker there. A little fear began to develop in my chest, but I quickly swallowed it. I had my own Pokémon, after all. What more protection did I need? After searching for a few minutes, however, my resolve began to fade. I just knew I would find another Wurmple, or one of its evolved forms, Cascoon or Silcoon. I was doomed to surviving on a team of Wurmple evolutions—

A patch of grass moved right in front of me. I held my breath, hoping against hope that I would find something good, that I would find something I could use...

A Shroomish hoped out of the grass.

I could have jumped for joy. Shroomish, (or rather, Breloom) were one of the Pokémon I always had on my team when I played Ruby, and they were high on my list of favorite grass types. To actually find one in the only place that I could seemed like it was beyond lucky. A quick battle weakened it, and, before I knew it, it was in a Pokeball in the palm of my hand. I released it once more, trying to think of a good nickname.

"Well, as a Breloom, you'll have some pretty nice claws," I said aloud. The Shroomish grinned.

"Of course! Once I evolve, I'll be more powerful, cooler, and..." He paused and struck what I assumed he thought was some kind of alluring pose. Really weird for a Shroomish. "And I'll be able to impress the ladies." I stifled a laugh.

"That decides it. Your name will be Spirit." I said instead. The newly named Shroomish thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"Spirit. I like it. I'm pretty spirited, after all." He struck another pose, and I did laugh that time, and then I returned him to the Pokeball. By that time, the sun had nearly set. There was just a sliver of red left above the horizon. With a new addition to my team, and my duty as the Gymleader's son (daughter?) fulfilled, I was ready to head back into town and find a place to stay for a while. It had certainly been a long day.


End file.
